Topic: Van Dyke types...?

[astrobeck]

Anyone doing any Van Dyke type stuff?  I want to try it, and was wondering if anyone had any tips or tricks to offer.

 

[HolgaJen]

I can't help you ... but I'm just wondering what "Van Dyke type stuff" is?

please forgive my ignorance

[beck]

I've never tried this, but results can be devastatingly magnificent. Van Dykes are something I'd like to play with once inside a darkroom...but until then, the kitchen will have to do for now...and a bottle of balsamic vinegar.

[LT]

I've never tried any alt process stuff, but I know of at least 2 members here who do platinum printing, so may have some experience in this ....  Beckyp - what have you done here with this picture? 

[ann]

Van Dyke Brown prints are beautiful and not difficult to make. Having a UV light box is grat but the sun will do,.

try this article for a jump start

http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Vandyke/vandyke.html

[Tammy]

Becky,
I think you  may have asked me something simliar on my blog awhile back.  I've learned a few things since my first tries.

The link Ann sent is a good one.  Follow it well.   I bought a small kit at Bostick and Sullivan.  I think it's easy to use.  I also have found that the paper is everything.  I would suggest trying a good platinum printing paper from the very beginning.  I also found that foam brushes work ok, but my glass rod worked better.  Double coat the paper and use a hair dryer on the "cold" setting to dry.  Don't worry about contrast agents until you've seen how your negs respond to the paper you are using. 

I have messed up a negative when the paper wasn't dry all the way, so if you plan on using real negs you may want to dump in a few sheets of unexposed to the developer/fix to get a clear inner neg for protection.

That's about all I can think of for first try tips. 

Have fun.

Tammy

[beck]

Beckyp - what have you done here with this picture? 

Leon, I took a steal wool pad and scuffed up parts of the picture, lightly though, so it could absorb treatment...then took some balsamic vinegar and applied a bit with a sponge and used a hair dryer to dry it and applied more and then dried it again. It's one of my Polaroid 420 pictures. To whiten the edges, I took a q-tip with bleach and made a frame. I did others, but this one turned out the best. Just messing around killing an afternoon.

[JOhn Reeves]

Beck
Do you cook like this too? Send me some brownies. I'll send you some macaroons. Yer goin ape nuts in the creative lane. send some of that energy to the rest of us . . . I like yer results.

Becky
I've made some crummy cyanotypes with photocopies of my negative on overhead transparency film. I used cheap glass + masonite clip frames as my contact frame. This was done in my kitchen/pantry a few months before I found a proper darkroom.
Just in case you're not familiar w/photo formulary: http://www.photoformulary.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=2&tabid=9&CategoryID=66&langID=0

[beck]

Sure, I cook just the same...only better. Anyone up for tripe soup? You don't know what you're missing. Those pictures are a result of boredom really...I wouldn't do this to any of my better 420's...I have to think of how to get them to bigger prints...the Polaroids.